Improvised weapons, ganja, homemade wine among items seized in prison raids

As part of heightened security activities, the Joint Services, today, conducted Operation Safe Guard at the Georgetown and New Amsterdam prisons and seized a large quantity of contraband items.
A release from the Joint Services said that at the Georgetown Prison 21 improvised weapons and knives, 20 razor blades, 558 grams of marijuana, 22 cellular phones and five gallons of homemade wine, along with a number of other banned items were found. A smaller number of items were found at the New Amsterdam prison.

“Of grave concern to the security forces is that the Georgetown Prison was last searched on September 23, 2016, which means that the contraband item haul accumulated in just under two months. The Government will continue to work closely with the Guyana Prison Service and the Joint Services to address on-going security weaknesses at the nation’s correctional facilities”, the release said.

Some of the items seized (Ministry of the Presidency photo)
Some of the items seized (Ministry of the Presidency photo)

Below is a full list of items, which were confiscated at the Georgetown Prison:

22 cellular Phones
558 grams marijuana
9 packets cigarettes
8 cellular phone chargers
A quantity zip lock bags
45 lighters
A quantity of bamboo wrapper
A Quantity of wine
21 Weapons
4 cellular phone batteries
1 arrow
2 scissors
$300 GYD
$200 TT
4 grabber hooks
5 gallons of home made wine,
20 razor blades
5 sim cards
1 tattoo machine